Getting the most out of Bend, Oregon

September events at Thump

I received the September schedule of events for Thump Coffee today. I’ve been down there a few times the past couple of weeks, and I’m liking it quite a bit.

Read the full September schedule

First Friday Art Walk, September 7, open til 8

ART: Andrew Wachs

This month we’ll showcase Bend artist Andrew Wachs’s sculptural explorations of form and shape inspired by Central and Eastern Oregon’s many columnar basalt formations. Also on display are various wall panels inspired by the Minimalist movement of the late 1950s.

Wachs recently completed Bend’s newest roundabout sculpture project, entitled “Ghost”, located in the Old Mill District at Wilson and Bond. Wachs has shown his work in exhibits throughout the Northwest and S.F. Bay Area.

Friends and fans of the dearly departed A Cup of Magic coffeehouse on Galveston (now Ariana’s) may remember Buffalo’s Corner. After a little cajoling, we convinced local artist and writer Chris Buffalo Folsom to resurrect his project here. Buffalo’s Column is printed on laminated strips of paper and hangs from hooks on a board, one for each day of the week.

According to Buffalo, his column “was and is mostly to entertain, sometimes to stimulate, and possibly, to make you think. The column will deal with current political situations, socioeconomics, local news, current movies, or anything that comes into the wacky mind of its writer.”

Buffalo is perhaps best known in Central Oregon for sculpting the 20-foot tall scrap-metal grizzly bear mother with her three bear cubs, which is installed in Oregon’s largest traffic circle on Grizzly Way in Madras.

CUPPING: Not to be confused with the traditional Chinese medicine practice of applying acupressure with heated cups, cupping is the art and science of tasting coffee. Come inhale the aromas and slurp up the flavors with us at this fun, informal presentation — it’s all about the love in the cup.

This month we dive into some of the new crop harvested in Central America in late spring/early summer. Near the town of Pueblo Nuevo in Nicaragua, the Canales family farm — known as Los Delirios because locals thought Daniel Canales to be “delirious” for buying this abandoned farmland 25 years ago — produces some of this country’s most highly prized coffees. This “micro lot” consists of beans harvested from the El Cipres y Ojo de Agua section of the Los Delirios farm.

Here’s what Stumptown Coffee Roasters says about this special organically grown coffee purchased directly from the Canales family for higher than Fair Trade prices: “Caturra, Typica and Bourbon varietals are all present in this lot, which grew between 1200 and 1400 meters above sea level. Candied orange, apricots and sugar cane are notes found in the Cipres y Ojo de Agua cup.”

To read more about Los Delirios and the Canales family, click Source Trips and choose Central America on the Stumptown Coffee Roasters site: http://stumptowncoffee.com

ART: Mark Bernahl – “Wishes” installation

Customers wrote their heart’s fondest desire on pieces of cedar, which are suspended from the ceiling, creating a kinetic, literary sculpture.